Storage Reservoir for Paint or Varnish Brushes

ABSTRACT

There is provided a storage container or reservoir for paint or varnish brushes that facilitates both storage of the brushes and transport to the worksite that includes a suitable, preferably transparent or translucent container for the brush solvent having rods or dowels that are sealingly and slidably passed through opposing walls of a container at various heights above the bottom of the container so that various sized brushes can be suspended with their ferrules at substantially the same level and so that a single volume of solvent can effectively immerse the bristles of the various sized brushes. Each rod or dowel desirably suspends one or two brushes so that access to retrieve any brush from the container may be had by manually sliding the rod or dowel so that a free end of the rod or dowel is within the container whereupon the brush of choice can be slid off the rod or dowel and retrieved, after which the rod or dowel may be easily replaced though the opposing wall.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The instant invention provides a container for storage of multiple paint or varnish brushes in which the bristles of the brushes are conveniently kept suspended in an appropriate solvent when not in use to maintain brush softness, cleanliness and pliability.

2. Description of the Related Art

Although convenience has resulted in the popularity of disposable paint and varnish brushes for do-it-yourself projects, professionals who are required to produce dependably fine finishes using solvent based (as opposed to water based) paint or varnish systems frequently rely on the superior layering that can be produced with fine, and typically expensive, animal hair brushes. A difficulty with these brushes is that their bristles must be maintained wet with a suitable solvent such as kerosene, turpentine, diesel, or paint thinner when not in use so that the cleanliness, softness and pliability of the bristles can be preserved.

Since professionals will typically use different sized brushes for different aspects of a coating job, a multiple brush storage container must necessarily suspend a number of differently sized brushes in the solvent medium without permitting the bristles to rest on or even near the bottom surface of the container where pressure on the bristles could deform them and where the brushes can become fouled with solids that slough off the brushes and collect in a layer in the bottom of the container. These functions, moreover, are desirably accomplished in a fashion that enables convenient withdrawal from the container of any single brush for use without disturbing the others. It would also be desirable for such a container to be sealed to prevent evaporation of solvent, to contain unpleasant solvent odors and to avoid solvent spills if the container is inadvertently upset in the work environment or while being transported to and from a worksite.

Currently on the market is a prior art container called the Epifanes® Brush Keeper which is intended to keep brushes soft and clean by storing them in a translucent polyethylene container that holds up to eight brushes suspended in solvent using an internal removable rack. The container also included a tightfitting lid to prevent spills and evaporation. Retrieval of a single brush, however, frequently involves removal of the entire internal rack which is inconvenient.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with this invention, there is provided a storage container or reservoir for paint or varnish brushes that suspends the brushes from the holes that are generally provided in paint brush handles (or if no such holes exist, they may be readily drilled by the user). Rods or dowels which are sufficiently long to extend through and beyond opposing walls of the container are slidably passed through openings in those opposing walls in a fashion so that the rods or dowels at least are closely contained within those wall openings. Most desirably the rods or dowels are provided with a sealing grommet or similar device that can effectively provide a substantial seal between the rod or dowel and the wall of the container. The rods or dowels are disposed at various heights above the bottom of the container so that various sized brushes can be suspended with their ferrules at substantially the same level and so that a single volume of solvent can effectively immerse the bristles of the various sized brushes. Each rod or dowel desirably suspends one or two brushes so that access to retrieve any brush from the container may be had by manually sliding the rod or dowel so that a free end of the rod or dowel is within the container whereupon the brush of choice can be slid off the rod or dowel and retrieved, after which the rod or dowel may be easily replaced though the opposing wall.

Convenience is achieved by the use of the slidable yet substantially sealed rods or dowels that can be easily manipulated and which will securely suspend the brushes when passed through opposing walls of the container. The fact that the rods or dowels can be slid so that access to either end may be had within the container facilitates the retrieval of the brush of choice without disengaging any other brush from the rod or dowel.

Providing this rod or dowel brush suspension system within a transparent or translucent container with a tight fitting lid, can afford a brush reservoir with the desirable attributes outlined above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a photograph of a four-brush reservoir in accordance with the present invention which is itself a preferred embodiment, and which will be used to explain the various aspects of the invention.

While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have been shown by way of example in FIG. 1 and will be described in detail herein. However, it should be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, the intention is to cover all modifications, equivalents and alternatives falling within the spirit and scope of this disclosure and the appended claims.

DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a generally transparent container or reservoir 11 with a generally rectangular footprint adapted to suspend four differently sized brushes from two dowels 13 and 15 mounted transversely through sealing grommets 17 and 19 provided in opposing walls of the container. The container illustrated measures 11-⅛″ high by 5-¼″ wide by 4″ deep. The upper dowel is 9-½″ from the bottom of the container and is ¼″ in diameter, for larger brushes. The lower dowel is from 8-½″ from the bottom of the container and is 3/16″ in diameter, for small brushes. This is designed so the ferrules of all the brushes are level with each other to reduce the amount of solvent needed to keep all the bristles fully suspended in solvent. The specific container illustrated is designed to suspend four badger varnish brushes sized from 1 inch to 3 inches manufactured by Redtree Industries, Inc.

The container shown in FIG. 1 has a removable sealing lid 21 providing four depending and locking tabs 23 that engage the container and seal the lid in place. A silicone sealing ring 25, is visible through the transparent/translucent lid. For convenience the illustrated brush reservoir was adapted from a foodstuff container suitable for holding spaghetti pasta manufactured under the name Lock & Lock by Hana Kobe Co., Ltd., located in Inchon, Korea (Item No. HPL819). Although a plastic container would be preferred since it can be both transparent/translucent and break resistant, it will be appreciated that the invention could be embodied in a container of any suitable material to contain the solvent; e.g., an opaque plastic, metal or glass container.

The container itself of course may be suitably sized for the brushes it is intended to contain and may be taller, shorter or wider in either footprint dimension than the container illustrated to accommodate brushes or different manufacturers. But for any size brush, using transverse rods or dowels through sealing grommets in opposing walls provides an efficient way to store multiple brushes in a container with a minimal footprint, although it will be appreciated that other shaped containers might be used. For example, a cylindrical container with a circular footprint could be satisfactorily used with dowels or rods that generally pass through opposing sides of the cylindrical wall in the configuration of transverse diameters. Alternatively, the container may have a long, narrow, rectangular or oval footprint with a series of parallel rods or dowels disposed at different heights through opposing sides of the shorter dimension of the rectangle or oval. Such a configuration would enable suspending one or two brushes on each rod or dowel in a fashion so that the ferrules are aligned as shown in FIG. 1.

Neither does the sealable lid require a silicone sealing member and the four depending locking tabs as in the embodiment shown. Plastic containers with sealing lids are commonplace in the art. For example, kitchen food containers of the type popularized as Tupperware® containers may be used. Indeed if a container of circular cross section is used, the seal may be accomplished with a screw top or lid. The lid must simply be large enough to afford convenient access to the brushes being stored. In another alternative, the lid on the container illustrated in FIG. 1 may be hinged from one of the container walls.

The dowels illustrated are simply cylindrical wooden dowels of the diameter noted above, sized to pass and extend though the openings that typically exist or that can be created in brush handles, although it will be understood that any suitable rod-like material that will not be adversely affected by the solvents in the reservoir, such as plastic or metal, may be used. The length of the rods or dowels is sufficient to pass through the opposing walls of the container and afford sufficient length extending outside the walls to permit gripping and withdrawing of the rod or dowel to expose a free end within the container to permit removal of a brush. It is not essential that the rods or dowels being used be circular in cross section, although it will be appreciated that accomplishing a seal with a sealing device such as a grommet is most easily accomplished if the rod or dowel has a circular cross section.

The grommets that accomplish the seal between the container wall and the rods or dowels are commonly available. Nitrile rubber/Buna N is preferred inasmuch as it is highly resistant to petroleum oils, aromatic hydrocarbons, and many acids, but any similarly resistant material may be used. The grommets are preferably elastomeric in character and are sized to at once provide a sliding seal around the rod or dowel (it will be clear that the sealing at those points need not be absolute) so that the solvents are generally contained and yet the rod or dowel may be withdrawn in either direction to expose a free end and permit removal of a suspended brush. In the illustrated embodiment of FIG. 1, there are shown grommets available from ICO Rally located in Palo Alto, Calif. as catalog numbers GN 5/16 Black and GN ⅜ Black. However it will be understood that use of sealing grommets is not essential to this invention and a container providing rods or dowels slidably mounted through generally closely fitting holes in opposing walls of the container, designed to generally contain odor and minimize spillage in the event of upset, will incorporate an essential aspect of this invention.

The instant invention has been described in connection with a specific illustrated embodiment, but may be adapted as discussed in various ways to achieve brush storage by using the convenient notion of withdrawable rods or dowels (and bidirectionally withdrawable rods or dowels in the instance where two brushes are to be stored on a single rod) passing through opposing walls of a suitable container at varying heights to accommodate different sized paint or varnish brushes. Variations which employ this and other design features of the storage container describe herein are understood to be within the spirit and scope of this invention. 

1. A device for storage of paint or varnish brushes which comprises a container suitable for holding a solvent for cleaning the brushes, said container having at least two rods from which brushes may be suspended, said rods being slidably mounted through opposing walls of the container so that either free end of the rods may be drawn into the container to remove a brush suspended therefrom.
 2. The device of claim 1 wherein the rods are mounted at different heights above the bottom of the container to facilitate the storage of brushes of various sizes.
 3. The device of claim 2 wherein the rods are mounted transversely to one another through opposing sides of the container.
 4. The device of claim 2 wherein the rods are mounted parallel to one another through opposing sides of the container.
 5. The device of claim 1 wherein the container is provided with a sealable lid to contain the solvent in the event of upset.
 6. The device of claim 5 wherein the rods passing though the opposing walls of the container pass through grommets that provide at least some sealing effect against leakage of solvent and escape of solvent vapor.
 7. The device of claim 6 wherein the grommets are an elastomeric material generally resistant to the solvents being used.
 8. The device of claim 1 wherein the container is transparent or translucent. 